Final Journey: A Marine's Destiny - revised

By Frederick Bruce

Coming from a dysfunctional family, and then losing his best friend in combat, TJ had no hope for the future. He neither wanted nor needed any friends- the loss was too painful. His depression continued until he crossed paths with an unlikely canine, facing turmoil of its own. Would an improbable intersection of two lives make a difference for o

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frederick Bruce Brockie
• Release date: Sep 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781959182030

Frederick Bruce

While working in accounting for a manufacturing company, Frederick Bruce pursued his education and graduated from Northwestern University’s School of Business. After a few years, following his graduation, he entered the world of self-employment. He became a consultant to small businesses. The clients ranged in size from one to ten people. Many of the clients had unique skills in their trade, but limited skills in management, marketing, taxes and accounting. He worked with them in these areas to enable them to stay in business. His consulting career consisted of working with these clients to help them understand that their skills in their specialized talents were not enough. They had to “wear all the hats” in order to stay in business. Wrapped up in these individual endeavors are the dreams, frustrations and achievements they encountered. Working with these clients gave Frederick Bruce the knowledge and understanding, on an individual basis, of what it takes to succeed. It uniquely qualifies him to tell their stories.

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ISBN 978-1-959182-02-3 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-959182-03-0 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Frederick Bruce

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Lone Wildcat Books

[phone]

100 Oceangate F-12

Long Beach, CA 90802

Printed in the United States of America

Dedicated

To the men and women in the armed forces who serve their country, never asking why, but always stepping forward to do their job

Contents

Chapter 1: Coming Home 

Chapter 2: Moving On 

Chapter 3: Ron Mason’s Parents 

Chapter 4: Visit with Stacy 

Chapter 5: Dejection and Despair 

Chapter 6: A Needed Timeout 

Chapter 7: Westward to Kansas 

Chapter 8: Life on the Farm 

Chapter 9: Teacher’s Meeting

Chapter 10: Class Presentation 

Chapter 11: Contact with Sandy 

Chapter 12: Time With Sandy 

Chapter 13: Sandy’s Concerns 

Chapter 14: Tom’s Dilemma 

Chapter 15: Tom’s Solution 

Chapter 16: On the Road 

Chapter One

Coming Home

He was coming home. Afghanistan was forever in his rear view mirror. To his grade school classmates and to his family, he was known as Terry Ward. The name that appears on his discharge papers is Terrence Joseph Ward. But to his close friends and Marine buddies, he was just known as TJ.

TJ’s close friend was Ronald Charles Mason. They were together in high school, college and eventually in the service of the United States Marines Corps. By all accounts, the two men were inseparable. Their activities seemed to parallel each other. If you looked for, and found Ron Mason, you would also find TJ, and vice versa.

Unlike their previous years together, TJ was coming home alone. Ron came home several months earlier. Ron Mason had previously arrived in the United States with a contingent of assigned Marines. They had accompanied a casket carrying his remains. The scene was all too familiar for many who had observed the procedures for those who paid the ultimate price in service to their country. TJ felt that he had become a lost soul. Thoughts of his future were blurred. For all practical purposes, the future was nonexistent to him.

Although much of his previous memorable experiences included time spent with Ron Mason, TJ was consumed with the events that transpired on their final day together. On that day in Afghanistan, TJ and Ron were part of a group designated to proceed forward in an attempt to secure a village. When trying to adjust his ammunition belt, TJ found the strap to be faulty and his ammunition belt became unhinged. He was held back to adjust his equipment. In his place, Ron led the group and went forward in the duty assignment.

Within a matter of minutes, a bomb went off. In that instant, the life of Ron Mason ended. When news came back to the troops, TJ was stunned. His feelings were that life had also ended for him. It was not the first loss of life that he had experienced. He had been prepared and had previously experienced similar deadly events. But he was not able to cope with the loss of Ron Mason.

As he was coming home, he felt that he was just going through the motions. Before his discharge, the military psychologists and psychiatrists had spent time with TJ. Over time, it was their opinion that an intervention was needed. The prognosis they rendered was that TJ was going through a form of survivor’s guilt. To TJ, this was a misdiagnosis. He understood survivor’s guilt—thinking and feeling why did he survive, but his fellow Marine did not. No, this was not the same. Not just that he and Ron were close friends, but it was the manner in which the situation unfolded.

It could have been him. He’s the one that most likely should have been coming home in a box. Because of the failure of the strap on his ammunition belt, Ron died instead of him. He could not adjust his head to that situation. It should have been him. Or maybe it could have, or should have, been both of them. While these thoughts circled in his head, TJ would drift in and out of sleep during the flight.

At times when he was awake, TJ’s mind continued to wander as he tried to put his thoughts in place. How did he get to this point in his life? He started to think back to his childhood and the early years in his family.

TJ came from a very dysfunctional family. He didn’t know it at the time. To him, as he was growing up, his family situation seemed normal. He knew no other comparison. There was constant turmoil in his family. Although both parents worked, they constantly moved. They were not able to financially exist in any one place.

TJ had adopted the feelings that his parents were constant victims. Whatever happened to them was never their fault—they were never responsible. At various times, his parents used their own parents and siblings to co-sign for the purchases of vehicles and to obtain various loans. When the payment obligations were not met, their co-signers were visited or contacted at home or at their place of employment regarding the unpaid obligations for which they had co-signed.

TJ, feeling great loyalty to his parents, continued to attribute the situation to bad luck or just being victims of bad circumstances that were beyond their control. Any knock at the door or ringing of the telephone caused anxiety for the children in the family. The first thought was that it was not going to be a friendly contact. Arguments ensued, but there never seemed to be a solution. The strained relations that TJ’s parents had with their own parents and siblings also resulted in a loss of association for the children with their cousins.

The parents never communicated or discussed anything with the children, even though the events would have an ultimate impact on them. The children became aware of a situation when it had reached a crisis point. TJ recalled an incident that took place when he was in second grade.

One day, after the lunch break, the students were settling into their seats and the teacher was sitting at her desk. They were all waiting for the afternoon bell to ring. Before the session started, to TJ’s surprise, he saw his mother walk into the classroom and approach the teacher. He had no idea why his mother was there.

After the teacher and his mother had a brief discussion, the teacher walked to the front of the class and said, We are going to have to say good bye to Terry. He will be moving and he will be going to another school.

Not knowing what to say, TJ recalled gathering up his supplies from his desk. He began walking toward the front of the classroom where his mother was waiting. As he walked, he could hear some of the classmates saying good bye. As best as he could, he responded and said his good byes as he walked out of the classroom.

Looking back, TJ recalled walking out and leaving that school for the last time. Thinking about that day still hurts. As a seven year old, he was able to hold his emotions together until he was in the car riding home.

To a mature adult, the situation would appear to be one of irresponsibility, but growing up in this type of family, the feelings continued to be that the parents were the victims. TJ continued to remain loyal to them. However, as time went on, and as TJ matured, he started to look at the situation differently. Some of the excuses and stories began to appear preposterous. For example, when attempting to bring their car payments up to date, the story was that the clerk who prepared a money order for two payments stole the money and the money order was invalid. Really?

TJ’s mother would continually have checking accounts closed on her because they were overdrawn. However, she retained the checks and used them to make purchases, even though the accounts were closed. Frequently, there were visitors at the door to collect the money subject to the invalid checks. On one occasion, there was an arrest. The police showed up at the door. Children in these types of situations grow up hating the police. Why